Hello and welcome.

This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of

bird biology for lifelong learners. This is episode number 133 of the podcast, and it's a

from the field episode. I do these every so often when I'm talking about my recent travels to various places around the world,

for birding, for the work I do as a birding guide.

And so today we are talking about Romania, the country in Eastern Europe.

I was in Romania for about two weeks, and I was there to scout for a future birding tour that I will

lead for my company Wild Latitudes. That will most likely be in 2028. And this was an exciting trip.

Romania was a place I'd wanted to get to for a long time, and this was my first experience in

Eastern Europe. I had a

really great time, and I'm excited to tell you about how it went. Now, one interesting twist on this

trip was that, you know, of course, my binoculars are the most essential piece of gear that I

have, right? As a birder, as a birding guide, binoculars are

indispensable. Well, my binoculars prior to this trip were starting to have a little bit of a

problem with the focus knob. And I ran out of time. I wasn't able to send my binoculars in to the

manufacturer to get them fixed, which I'm sure was possible. But I ran out of time. So I just took my binoculars in to the manufacturer to get them fixed, which I'm sure was possible,

but I ran out of time. So I just took my binoculars. I'm like, ah, it'll be fine. No, no worries.

It'll be fine. Well, not long after I got to Europe, I realized, no, it was not fine. The focus

knob got really out of whack. And so anything beyond about eight feet in front of me was

completely out of focus so my binoculars were essentially useless and that was really that was a

...